System to utilize user&#39;s activities pattern as additional authentication parameter

ABSTRACT

Various embodiments for a system to utilize user&#39;s location pattern as an authentication parameter are disclosed. An embodiment operates by retrieving a location history of a user based on past locations of a user equipment (UE) device at various times and traffic data associated with the location history. A request to access a protected application is received and a present location of the UE device at a time associated with the request is determined. A locational pattern is generated based on both the location history of the user and the traffic data. The present location of the UE device is compared with the locational pattern, and it is determined that a level of authentication necessary to grant access to the protected application is satisfied based on both the comparing and a determination that the present location falls within the locational range generated based on the traffic data.

CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS

This application is a continuation of U.S. patent application Ser. No.16/866,231 titled “System to Utilize User's Activities Pattern AsAdditional Authentication Parameter”, to Pham et al., filed on May 4,2020, which is herein incorporated by reference in its entirety.

BACKGROUND

Mobile devices are typically used for a variety of functions, includingphone conversation, messaging, work and/or home emails, and transactionssuch as banking, social networking, etc. Such transactions are performedusing mobile applications downloaded and installed on the mobile deviceor using a web browser application. In either case, it is important toprovide a mechanism for user authentication. The authentication of theuser may require the user to provide his username and password. In somecases, for additional security, a two-factor authentication mechanism orsimilar method is used. While the use of two-factor authentication oranother similar method may provide additional security, asking users togo through an additional step for authentication could be frustrating.Therefore, there is a need to provide a seamless user experience withoutcompromising the security of the user and without requiring additionalauthentication steps.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS/FIGURES

The accompanying drawings are incorporated herein and form a part of thespecification.

FIG. 1 illustrates an exemplary network architecture, in accordance withsome embodiments.

FIG. 2 illustrates an exemplary timeline of a user location, inaccordance with some embodiments.

FIG. 3 illustrates an exemplary user activity of a user equipment (UE)device, in accordance with some embodiments.

FIG. 4 illustrates an exemplary block diagram of the UE device inaccordance with some embodiments.

FIG. 5 illustrates a flow-chart of a method to utilize a user'sactivities pattern as an additional authentication parameter inaccordance with some embodiments.

FIG. 6 illustrates an exemplary computer system, in accordance with someembodiments.

In the drawings, like reference numbers generally indicate identical orsimilar elements. Additionally, generally, the left-most digit(s) of areference number identifies the drawing in which the reference numberfirst appears.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

Provided herein are methods, systems, and computer program productsand/or combinations and sub-combinations thereof, for utilizing apattern of activities of a user as an additional authenticationparameter. In particular, based on the user's activities pattern, theuser is granted access to a protected application without a higher levelof authentication. For example, in one embodiment, a user equipment (UE)device, such as a phone, is installed with a mobile application toperform various transactions. The mobile application may be a bankingapplication, and a user of the UE device may use the mobile applicationto perform transactions with his bank. The user may log in to the mobileapplication by providing his user identification (id) name and password.In some cases, instead of user id and password, the user may use hisbiometric information such as fingerprint or facial features, etc., tologin to the mobile application. For additional security, the user maybe asked to provide additional information or a scheme generally knownin the art as two-factor authentication may be used. However, asdescribed in detail below, the user may be authenticated withouttwo-factor authentication or requiring additional information from theuser, based on a pattern of the user's activities on the UE device. Forexample, the pattern of the user's activities may be location activitiesof the UE device and/or usage of the application on the UE device. Inother words, the pattern of the user's activities may suggest anidentity of the user, and, therefore, may be used as an authenticationparameter.

Various embodiments of this disclosure will be discussed with respect tothe corresponding figures.

FIG. 1 illustrates an exemplary network architecture, in accordance withsome embodiments. The exemplary network 100 may comprise a userequipment (UE) device 102, another UE device 106, a vehicle 104, anapplication server 108, and a satellite 110, and a communicationsnetwork 112. The vehicle may be associated with the owner of the UEdevice 102 and/or 106.

The UE device 102 may be a smartphone, a mobile phone, a tablet, etc.Similarly, the other UE device 106 may be a computer, a laptop, atablet, etc. While only two UE devices 102 and 106 are shown in FIG. 1,the network may comprise a plurality of UE devices. As discussed below,a user's activities pattern on each UE device of the plurality of UEdevices may be used as an additional authentication parameter as part ofa login procedure.

The application server 108 may be a backend system of the one or moremobile applications on the UE devices 102 and/or 106. Even though onlyone application server 108 is shown in FIG. 1, there may be a pluralityof application servers to provide a different kind of services to the UEdevices 102 and/or 106, and the vehicle 104. The UE devices 102 and/or106 may communicate with the application server 108 via thecommunications network 112. The communications network 112 may be awireless network, for example, a 3G, 4G, 5G, Local Area Network (LAN),Wide Area Network (WAN), public switched packet network, satellitecommunications network, etc.

The satellite 110 may provide navigation and/or communication servicesto the UE devices 102 and/or 106, and the vehicle 104. Accordingly, eachof the UE devices 102 and/or 106, and the vehicle 104 may receive itscurrent location information from the satellite 110 over thecommunications network 112.

One or more mobile applications may be installed on the UE devices 102and/or 106, and/or the vehicle 104. Using a mobile application on the UEdevices 102 and/or 106, and/or the vehicle 104, a user may perform avariety of transactions while in communication with the applicationserver 108. However, prior to using the mobile application to perform atransaction, the user may need to be authenticated using credentialssuch as user id, password, and/or biometric information such asfingerprint, facial features, etc. The user may also be required toprovide additional information before the user may be granted access tothe mobile application. By way of non-limiting example, the additionalinformation may be an answer(s) to a user-selected security question(s)or an alphanumeric code sent to the user device on which the mobileapplication is installed. For example, the user may be authenticatedusing two-factor authentication.

FIG. 2 illustrates an exemplary timeline of a user location, inaccordance with some embodiments. As described above, a pattern of auser's activities may be used as an additional authentication parameter.The pattern may be, for example, a user's location history based on thelocation of the UE device 102. By way of non-limiting example, themobile application on the UE device 102 may record a location of the UEdevice at preconfigured times or within a preconfigured and/oruser-specified threshold of the preconfigured times. The mobileapplication may store the location information of the UE device and atime corresponding to the location information of the UE device in amemory of the UE device. The time may be coordinated universal time(UTC) or time in a corresponding time zone.

It is common to leave for work from your home at a fixed time onweekdays and vice versa. On most weekdays, it generally takes the userthe same amount of time on the road to reach the workplace from home.Accordingly, the user's location on the road may generally be within avicinity of the same location when compared to a time of day. Similarly,when the user is at the workplace, the location of the user's devicewould also be known. The schedule of a user on the weekend may also bepredictable on most weekends. Accordingly, the location information of auser's UE device may form a pattern that may be verified and, therefore,may be used as an authentication parameter. The UE device 102 mayretrieve traffic data using an application programming interface to atraffic server or the application server 108. The UE device 102 may usethe received traffic data to confirm that the user has taken the sameroute or the user is at the location that corresponds with the observedlocation pattern. Alternatively, the pattern can be created, e.g., toinclude a range, to take into consideration traffic, weather or otherfactors that a user may not be at the expected location.

As shown in FIG. 2, for example, the user may leave from his home 202 at8:30 AM to go to his workplace 204. Accordingly, at 8:30 AM, thelocation of the user's UE device would be the home address of the user.As described above, the mobile application on the UE device may recordthe location of the UE device at a preconfigured time or a preconfiguredtime interval, for example, every 10 minutes. Accordingly, the mobileapplication may record the location of the UE device at 8:30 AM to be athome address or location A 206. The mobile application may store thelocation information, for example, as GPS coordinates, and thecorresponding time 8:30 AM in UTC format in the memory of the UE device.The mobile application may also record the location of the UE device atevery 10 minutes, and, therefore, the UE device's location at 8:40 AM atlocation B, at 8:50 AM at location C 208, at 9:00 AM at location D, at9:10 AM at location E may be recorded in the memory of the UE devicealong with the corresponding time. At 9:15 AM, the user may arrive atthe workplace 204. Accordingly, at 9:20 AM, the location of the user'sUE device would be the workplace 204 of the user 210. Locationinformation of the UE device throughout the day may thus be recorded. Apattern can then be established in regard to the location of the user'sUE device. For example, the pattern might be that the user is within thevicinity of the same location (e.g., the workplace) from 9:15 AM to 5:00PM on most days. The pattern can then be used as an authenticationparameter to log in the user to a particular application program.

FIG. 3 illustrates an exemplary user activity of the UE device, inaccordance with some embodiments. Similar to monitoring locationinformation of a user's UE device, the user's application usage oraccessing of mobile applications on the UE device may also form apattern, which may be used as an authentication parameter. For example,the user may access during his lunch break at noon his social networkingaccount 302. After checking his social networking account for about 10minutes, the user may browse the Internet using a web browser at about12:10 PM 304. After checking the news on the web browser for about 5minutes, the user may visit a financial website or a mobile financialapplication at about 12:15 PM 306. The user at 12:25 PM 308 may checkhis bank account. Accordingly, the user's application activities on theUE device may also form a pattern over time that may be used as anauthentication parameter. In other words, if the user accesses his bankaccount every day between 12:10 PM and 12:30 PM, this pattern can beused instead of a two-factor authentication mechanism.

In addition to the location information of the UE device and theapplication access activities, the user's outgoing call or messaginghistory may also be used as an authentication parameter.

FIG. 4 illustrates an exemplary block diagram of the UE device inaccordance with some embodiments. As shown in FIG. 4, the block diagram400 of the UE device 102 or 106 comprises a processor 402, a memory 404,a database 406, an input device 408, a network interface 410, and alocation sensor 412. The processor 402 of the UE device may executeinstructions of the mobile application and/or operations of variousembodiments as described herein. The memory 404 may store theinstructions of the mobile application and/or operations of the variousembodiments as described herein.

The database 406 may be a lightweight database such as SQLite, OrmLite,realm, Couchbase lite, and/or Berkeley DB, etc. The database 406 may bean in-memory database. The database 406 may store the UE device'slocation information and corresponding time, and/or application accesson the UE device and corresponding time, and/or any other informationthat may form a pattern, and may be used as an authentication parameter.

The input device 408 may be a physical and/or a virtual keyboard. Theinput device 408 may be any interface that may be used to provide inputinformation, for example, a microphone that may be used to provide inputas oral commands. The network interface 410 may enable the UE device tocommunicate with other UE devices, the application server, and/or thesatellite over the communications network 112. The location sensor 412may enable detection of the location of the UE device in coordinationwith the satellite 110.

FIG. 5 illustrates a flow-chart of a method to utilize the pattern of auser's activities as an additional authentication parameter inaccordance with some embodiments. As shown in the flow-chart 500, atstep 502, the user's activities on the UE device may be monitored over aperiod of time, e.g., days, weeks or even months. In fact, the step ofmonitoring may be continuously updating in the background as timepasses. For example, an initial pattern could be established over a twoday period. Then updated after a week, then again after a month. Themonitoring is not limited to any specific period of time. As describedabove, the user's activities may be, for example, the locationinformation of the UE device, and/or the access history of anapplication executing on the UE device. The user's other activities, forexample, including outgoing calls or messaging history may also bemonitored.

At step 504, at least one pattern may be generated based on themonitored activities at step 502 on the UE device. By way ofnon-limiting example, a user's current location can be compared to theat least one pattern to determine whether the location of the UE deviceis within a vicinity of the location recorded corresponding to a time ofthe day as described above with reference to FIG. 2. The at least onepattern may also identify the user's application access on the UE devicecorresponding to a time of the day, as described above with reference toFIG. 3. In one embodiment, the location and access information may beused together as an authentication parameter.

At step 506, the user may request access to the UE or the mobileapplication that is protected. At step 508, the user's activities on theUE device as monitored within a predetermined threshold time period maybe compared with the at least one pattern generated at step 504.Accordingly, the user's activity on the UE device may be compared withthe user's activity based on the at least one pattern before grantingthe user access to the protected application. For example, the locationof the UE device at the time of requesting access to the protectedapplication on the UE device may be compared against the location of theUE device based on the at least one pattern that corresponds with thetime of requesting access to the protected application on the UE device.

At step 510, based on the comparison, it may be determined whether theactivity of the UE device associated with the request to access theprotected application matches with the activity determined from the atleast one pattern generated based on the analysis of the monitoredactivities. If it is determined that the activity of the UE deviceassociated with the request to access the protected application matcheswith the at least one generated pattern, as shown in FIG. 5 by step 512,the user may be given access to the protected application without anyauthentication. In one embodiment, the user may be required to providehis user id and password, or his biometric information to gain access tothe protected application, but no additional level of authentication,for example, two-factor authentication, etc., may be required.

However, at step 510, if it is determined that the activity of the UEdevice associated with the request to access the protected applicationdoes not match with the at least one generated pattern, at step 514, adetermination is made whether a mismatch with the activity determinedfrom the at least one pattern corresponds to a time difference within,for example, a preconfigured time threshold period. If it is determinedthat the mismatch is not within the preconfigured time threshold period,at step 516, it may be determined that an additional level ofauthentication or a second level of authentication, for example, atwo-factor authentication mechanism, etc., may be required before theuser is granted access to the protected application. On the other hand,if it is determined that the mismatch is within the preconfigured timethreshold period, as shown by step 518, only a first level ofauthentication, for example, using user id and password, or biometricinformation may be required before the user is given access to theprotected application. Instead of the preconfigured time thresholdperiod, it may also be possible to have a time threshold period that maybe dynamically determined based on various factors, such as traffic onthe road, late schedule of all the regular activities, etc.

In one embodiment, alternatively (or in combination with time) at step514, a determination may be made whether a mismatch with the activitydetermined from the at least one pattern corresponds to a locationdifference of the UE device associated with the request to access theprotected application. If it is determined that the location mismatch isnot within a preconfigured threshold radius distance, at step 516, itmay be determined that an additional level of authentication or a secondlevel of authentication, for example, a two-factor authenticationmechanism, etc., may be required before the user is granted access tothe protected application. On the other hand, if it is determined thatthe location mismatch is within the preconfigured threshold radiusdistance, as shown by step 518, only a first level of authentication,for example, using user id and password, or biometric information may berequired before the user is given access to the protected application.

FIG. 6 illustrates an example of a computer system in accordance withsome embodiments.

Various embodiments may be implemented, for example, using one or morewell-known computer systems, such as a computer system 600, as shown inFIG. 6. One or more computer systems 600 may be used, for example, toimplement any of the embodiments discussed herein, as well ascombinations and sub-combinations thereof.

The computer system 600 may include one or more processors (also calledcentral processing units, or CPUs), such as a processor 604. Theprocessor 604 may be connected to a communication infrastructure or bus606.

The computer system 600 may also include user input/output device(s)603, such as monitors, keyboards, pointing devices, etc., which maycommunicate with communication infrastructure 606 through userinput/output interface(s) 602.

One or more processors 604 may be a graphics processing unit (GPU). Inan embodiment, a GPU may be a processor that is a specialized electroniccircuit designed to process mathematically intensive applications. TheGPU may have a parallel structure that is efficient for parallelprocessing of large blocks of data, such as mathematically intensivedata common to computer graphics applications, images, videos, etc.

The computer system 600 may also include a main or primary memory 608,such as random access memory (RAM). Main memory 608 may include one ormore levels of cache. Main memory 608 may have stored therein controllogic (i.e., computer software) and/or data.

The computer system 600 may also include one or more secondary storagedevices or memory 610. The secondary memory 610 may include, forexample, a hard disk drive 612 and/or a removable storage device ordrive 614. The removable storage drive 614 may be a floppy disk drive, amagnetic tape drive, a compact disk drive, an optical storage device,tape backup device, and/or any other storage device/drive.

The removable storage drive 614 may interact with a removable storageunit 618. The removable storage unit 618 may include a computer-usableor readable storage device having stored thereon computer software(control logic) and/or data. The removable storage unit 618 may be afloppy disk, magnetic tape, compact disk, DVD, optical storage disk,and/any other computer data storage device. The removable storage drive714 may read from and/or write to the removable storage unit 618.

The secondary memory 610 may include other means, devices, components,instrumentalities, or other approaches for allowing computer programsand/or other instructions and/or data to be accessed by the computersystem 600. Such means, devices, components, instrumentalities, or otherapproaches may include, for example, a removable storage unit 622 and aninterface 620. Examples of the removable storage unit 622 and theinterface 620 may include a program cartridge and cartridge interface(such as that found in video game devices), a removable memory chip(such as an EPROM or PROM) and associated socket, a memory stick and USBport, a memory card and associated memory card slot, and/or any otherremovable storage unit and associated interface.

The computer system 600 may further include a communication or networkinterface 624. The communication interface 624 may enable the computersystem 600 to communicate and interact with any combination of externaldevices, external networks, external entities, etc. (individually andcollectively referenced by reference number 628). For example, thecommunication interface 624 may allow the computer system 600 tocommunicate with the external or remote devices 628 over communicationspath 626, which may be wired and/or wireless (or a combination thereof),and which may include any combination of LANs, WANs, the Internet, etc.Control logic and/or data may be transmitted to and from the computersystem 600 via the communication path 626.

The computer system 600 may also be any of a personal digital assistant(PDA), desktop workstation, laptop or notebook computer, netbook,tablet, smartphone, smartwatch or other wearable, appliance, part of theInternet-of-Things, and/or embedded system, to name a few non-limitingexamples, or any combination thereof.

The computer system 600 may be a client or server, accessing or hostingany applications and/or data through any delivery paradigm, includingbut not limited to remote or distributed cloud computing solutions;local or on-premises software (“on-premise” cloud-based solutions); “asa service” models (e.g., content as a service (CaaS), digital content asa service (DCaaS), software as a service (SaaS), managed software as aservice (MSaaS), platform as a service (PaaS), desktop as a service(DaaS), framework as a service (FaaS), backend as a service (BaaS),mobile backend as a service (MBaaS), infrastructure as a service (IaaS),etc.); and/or a hybrid model including any combination of the foregoingexamples or other services or delivery paradigms.

Any applicable data structures, file formats, and schemas in thecomputer system 600 may be derived from standards including but notlimited to JavaScript Object Notation (JSON), Extensible Markup Language(XML), Yet Another Markup Language (YAML), Extensible Hypertext MarkupLanguage (XHTML), Wireless Markup Language (WML), MessagePack, XML UserInterface Language (XUL), or any other functionally similarrepresentations alone or in combination. Alternatively, proprietary datastructures, formats, or schemas may be used, either exclusively or incombination with known or open standards.

In some embodiments, a tangible, non-transitory apparatus or article ofmanufacture comprising a tangible, non-transitory computer usable orreadable medium having control logic (software) stored thereon may alsobe referred to herein as a computer program product or program storagedevice. This includes, but is not limited to, the computer system 600,the main memory 608, the secondary memory 610, and the removable storageunits 618 and 622, as well as tangible articles of manufacture embodyingany combination of the foregoing. Such control logic, when executed byone or more data processing devices (such as the computer system 600),may cause such data processing devices to operate as described herein.

Based on the teachings contained in this disclosure, it will be apparentto persons skilled in the relevant art(s) how to make and useembodiments of this disclosure using data processing devices, computersystems and/or computer architectures other than that shown in FIG. 6.In particular, embodiments can operate with software, hardware, and/oroperating system implementations other than those described herein.

The present invention has been described above with the aid offunctional building blocks illustrating the implementation of specifiedfunctions and relationships thereof. The boundaries of these functionalbuilding blocks have been arbitrarily defined herein for the convenienceof the description. Alternate boundaries can be defined so long as thespecified functions and relationships thereof are appropriatelyperformed.

The foregoing description of the specific embodiments will so fullyreveal the general nature of the invention that others can, by applyingknowledge within the skill of the art, readily modify and/or adapt forvarious applications such specific embodiments, without undueexperimentation, without departing from the general concept of thepresent invention. Therefore, such adaptations and modifications areintended to be within the meaning and range of equivalents of thedisclosed embodiments, based on the teaching and guidance presentedherein. It is to be understood that the phraseology or terminologyherein is for the purpose of description and not of limitation, suchthat the terminology or phraseology of the present specification is tobe interpreted by the skilled artisan in light of the teachings andguidance.

The breadth and scope of the present invention should not be limited byany of the above-described exemplary embodiments but should be definedonly in accordance with the following claims and their equivalents.

What is claimed is:
 1. A method, comprising: retrieving a locationhistory of a user based on past locations of a user equipment (UE)device at various times and traffic data associated with the locationhistory; receiving, at the UE device, a request to access a protectedapplication; determining a present location of the UE device at a timeassociated with the request; generating a locational pattern based onboth the location history of the user and the traffic data; comparing,at the UE device, the present location of the UE device with thegenerated locational pattern and a corresponding time data associatedwith the request to access the protected application; and determining,at the UE device, a level of authentication necessary to grant access tothe protected application is satisfied based on both the comparing and adetermination that the present location falls within the locationalrange generated based on the traffic data.
 2. The method of claim 1,wherein the protected application is one of a mobile application, asmartwatch application, a web browser, and a rich web application. 3.The method of claim 1, wherein the monitoring activities of the UEdevice comprises: monitoring, at the UE device, a time of day when anapplication of a plurality of applications on the UE device is accessedby the UE device and time duration for which the application is in useeach time it is accessed by the UE device; and storing, in a memory atthe UE device, the time of day, the application being accessed by the UEdevice, and the time duration.
 4. The method of claim 1, wherein themonitoring activities of the UE device comprises: monitoring, at the UEdevice, location information of the UE device at a configurable timeduration; and storing, in a memory at the UE device, the locationinformation and corresponding time information.
 5. The method of claim1, wherein the generating the at least one pattern comprises:predicting, at the UE device, an activity of the UE device based onanalysis of the monitored activities of the UE device; and verifying, atthe UE device, the predicted activity monitoring the activities of theUE device.
 6. The method of claim 1, wherein the determining the levelof authentication comprises: determining, at the UE device, that theactivity of UE device corresponding to the time data associated with therequest to access the protected application matches with the activitydetermined from the at least one pattern generated based on the analysisof the monitored activities; and determining, at the UE device, noauthentication or no two-factor authentication is required to grantaccess to the protected application.
 7. The method of claim 1, whereinthe determining the level of authentication comprises: determining, atthe UE device, that the activity of UE device corresponding to the timedata associated with the request to access the protected applicationdoes not match with the activity determined from the at least onepattern generated based on the analysis of the monitored activities;determining, at the UE device, a first level of authentication of the UEdevice is required to grant access to the protected application when amismatch with the activity determined from the at least one patterncorresponds to a time difference within a configurable time thresholdperiod, or a second level of authentication of the UE device is requiredwhen the time difference is outside a configurable time thresholdperiod.
 8. The method of claim 1, wherein the at least one pattern orlevel of authentication is configurable.
 9. A user equipment (UE)device, comprising: a memory for storing instructions; and one or moreprocessors, communicatively coupled to the memory, configured to executethe instructions, the instructions causing the one or more processors toperform operations comprising: retrieving a location history of a userbased on past locations of a user equipment (UE) device at various timesand traffic data associated with the location history; receiving, at theUE device, a request to access a protected application; determining apresent location of the UE device at a time associated with the request;generating a locational pattern based on both the location history ofthe user and the traffic data; comparing, at the UE device, the presentlocation of the UE device with the generated locational pattern and acorresponding time data associated with the request to access theprotected application; and determining, at the UE device, a level ofauthentication necessary to grant access to the protected application issatisfied based on both the comparing and a determination that thepresent location falls within the locational range generated based onthe traffic data.
 10. The UE device of claim 9, wherein the protectedapplication is one of a mobile application, a smartwatch application, aweb browser, and a rich web application.
 11. The UE device of claim 9,wherein to monitor the activities of the UE device, the one or moreprocessors are further configured to perform operations comprising:monitoring a time of day when an application of a plurality ofapplications on the UE device is accessed by the UE device and timeduration for which the application is in use each time it is accessed bythe UE device; and storing, in the memory, the time of day, theapplication being accessed by the UE device, and the time duration. 12.The system of claim 9, to monitor the activities of the UE device, theone or more processors are further configured to perform operationscomprising: monitoring location information of the UE device at aconfigurable time duration; and storing, in the memory at the UE device,the location information and corresponding time information.
 13. Thesystem of claim 9, wherein to generate the at least one pattern, the oneor more processors are further configured to perform operationscomprising: predicting an activity of the UE device based on analysis ofthe monitored activities of the UE device; and verifying the predictedactivity monitoring the activities of the UE device.
 14. The system ofclaim 9, wherein to determine the level of authentication, the one ormore processors are further configured to perform operations comprising:determining that the activity of UE device corresponding to the timedata associated with the request to access the protected applicationmatches with the activity determined from the at least one patterngenerated based on the analysis of the monitored activities; anddetermining that no authentication or no two-factor authentication isrequired to grant access to the protected application.
 15. The system ofclaim 9, wherein to determine the level of authentication, the one ormore processors are further configured to perform operations comprising:determining that the activity of UE device corresponding to the timedata associated with the request to access the protected applicationdoes not match with the activity determined from the at least onepattern generated based on the analysis of the monitored activities;determining that a first level of authentication of the UE device isrequired to grant access to the protected application when a mismatchwith the activity determined from the at least one pattern correspondsto a time difference within a configurable time threshold period, or asecond level of authentication of the UE device is required when thetime difference is outside a configurable time threshold period.
 16. Thesystem of claim 9, wherein the at least one pattern or level ofauthentication is configurable.
 17. A non-transitory, tangiblecomputer-readable device having instructions stored thereon that, whenexecuted by at least one computing device, causes the at least onecomputing device to perform operations comprising: retrieving a locationhistory of a user based on past locations of a user equipment (UE)device at various times and traffic data associated with the locationhistory; receiving, at the UE device, a request to access a protectedapplication; determining a present location of the UE device at a timeassociated with the request; generating a locational pattern based onboth the location history of the user and the traffic data; comparing,at the UE device, the present location of the UE device with thegenerated locational pattern and a corresponding time data associatedwith the request to access the protected application; and determining,at the UE device, a level of authentication necessary to grant access tothe protected application is satisfied based on both the comparing and adetermination that the present location falls within the locationalrange generated based on the traffic data.
 18. The non-transitory,tangible computer-readable device of claim 17, wherein the protectedapplication is one of a mobile application, a smartwatch application, aweb browser, and a rich web application.
 19. The non-transitory,tangible computer-readable device of claim 17, wherein for themonitoring activities of the UE device, the instructions furthercomprise: monitoring a time of day when an application of a plurality ofapplications on the UE device is accessed by the UE device and timeduration for which the application is in use each time it is accessed bythe UE device; monitoring location information of the UE device at aconfigurable time duration; storing, in a memory, the time of day andthe application being accessed by the UE device, and the time durationfor which the application is in use; and storing, in the memory, thelocation information and corresponding time information.
 20. Thenon-transitory, tangible computer-readable device of claim 17, whereinfor the determining how to authenticate the UE device, the instructionsfurther comprise: determining that the activity of UE devicecorresponding to the time data associated with the request to access theprotected application matches with the activity determined from the atleast one pattern generated based on the analysis of the monitoredactivities; and determining that no authentication or no two-factorauthentication is required to grant access to the protected application.